Last week, we announced the Manila Music Festival Indie Rock Band Competition, where the victor gets to make Philippine music history by opening the first-ever Manila Music Festival.

After screening all the entries that poured in, we now present to you the five acts that made it through to the finals!

BETHANYBands like Urbandub and Sheila and the Insects have established Cebu as a breeding ground for budding rock talent, and alt-rock group Bethany is poised to join their ranks. The four lads of Bethany (three of them are brothers) look to arena greats U2, Muse, and Coldplay for influence. From their gripping melodies, stadium-sized arrangements, and electric stage presence, you can tell that they’ve learned well.

IVAN THEORYWhen you hear Ivan Theory’s jangly guitar jams, it’s hard to believe that the group actually used to be a power metal band! The four-piece takes elements of indie-pop, rock, blues, and jazz, and mixes them together to create an amiable sonic blend that serves perfectly well as lazy weekend listening. They’ve put out a five-song EP called Inspire, with some of its tracks enjoying airplay on local alternative radio stations.

THE NAMELESS HEROESAlternative four-piece The Nameless Heroes broke into the gig circuit in 2007 while the members were still in their teens. Their youth didn’t stop them from drawing comparisons to the Arctic Monkeys, with their classic rock streaks, punk-rock cacophony, and the vocalist’s Alex Turner-recalling stylings. The band has enjoyed modest success: their single “Room 306” has aired on MTV Philippines, while “Do What You Wanna Do” has landed on local radio station charts.

THE DISCOBALLRemember pop-punk pranksters Kiko Machine? After taking in a steady diet of Daft Punk, LCD Soundsystem, Radiohead, and Kylie Minogue, three of its members regrouped to form The Discoball. They’ve even coined the term “hypno-dance-rock” to describe their uncanny combo of electronica, disco, and punk. Count on The Discoball’s tight live performances to bring out the foot-tapping, head-bopping, shoulder-shimmying secret dancer in you.

YOLANDA MOONYolanda Moon is a pretty new band. How new? Let’s put it this way: they started a Facebook fan page just last month! Despite their relative inexperience, the group’s rich textures, silky arrangements, and introspective tone, which hearken back to 60s R&B and soul, have already made discerning music lovers sit up and take notice. Names like Ray Lamontagne and Mayer Hawthorne have been bandied around in discussions on Yolanda Moon, and rightly so.

Vote for any of these five fantastic acts via the Manila Music Festival Facebook voting page from April 17-24. The band with the highest number of votes at the end of the voting period (April 24, 2012 22:00 local time) gets to be the first-ever festival opener!